Pounds: Bladenfreude

“The Toledo Blade has developed plans to close its facility located at 541 North Superior Street, Toledo, OH 43660. The entire facility will be closed, and it presently is anticipated that this shutdown will be permanent. Consistent with these plans, employment separations are expected to begin on or about August 1, 2014 or during the 14-day period thereafter. Approximately 131 employees currently are expected to be separated from employment. Bumping rights are not available for affected employees. Some of the affected employees are represented by a labor organization.”

The May 30 news that The Blade plans to close its Downtown production facility and lay off at least 131 employees led to a slew of people asking Toledo Free Press employees if the daily newspaper’s misfortune was good news for Toledo Free Press or brought us any satisfaction.

The answer to both questions is a resounding no.

Just when Downtown, through investments by ProMedica and the efforts of areas such as the Warehouse District, is starting to grow and thrive, the loss of 131 Blade jobs is a setback for Downtown, the city and our region. That is a lot of people no longer driving, parking, working, eating, spending money and paying taxes Downtown. There is no joy, no schadenfreude in that.

Toledo Free Press’ well-documented problems with Block Communications and its ongoing lawsuit against us do not jaundice us to its workers and employees. We recognize the difference between institutional managerial bullying and the working people on Superior Street.

Some of the public reaction to The Blade’s bad news is of interest to those who believe that one reaps what one sows, but again, there is no gain for Toledo Free Press when a Downtown employer, struggling to survive financially, has to cut so deep into its workforce and eliminate so many jobs.

The continuing failure of daily paid print newspapers to evolve with new information standards has led to some markets having no newspaper watchdog to protect its interests. While we continue to fight against Block Communications in court, we wish to make it clear we do not take any joy or satisfaction in seeing its workforce continue to dwindle; the cost to our city is too high to seek any silver lining.

Thomas F. Pounds is president and publisher of Toledo Free Press. Contact him at tpounds@toledofreepress.com.

Appellate court dismisses Block Communications request

An appeals court recently ruled in favor of Toledo Free Press (TFP) on a request from Block Communications Inc. (BCI), parent company of The Blade, to deny part of an appeal filed by TFP.

The 6th District Court of Appeals on May 8 issued a nine-page opinion unanimously denying BCI’s “Motion for Partial Dismissal of Appeal for Lack of Jurisdiction.” The motion was filed in December 2013. TFP filed a reply to the motion on Jan. 29 and BCI filed a reply on Feb. 18.

The decision is part of an ongoing a civil suit between the two media companies. The original lawsuit was filed by BCI in October 2011, alleging TFP president and publisher Tom Pounds breached his separation agreement with BCI. TFP has vigorously denied BCI’s claims and filed a countersuit in December 2011.

Pounds, a former general manager of The Blade, resigned in 2004 and signed an agreement prohibiting him from disclosing any of the company’s confidential information and disparaging or taking any action directly or indirectly to harm the newspaper or its parent company.

BCI is seeking a variety of documents as part of the suit, including financial statements and a list of members of the TFP, a limited liability company. TFP has refused to turn over the information, asserting they constitute “trade secrets” protected from disclosure to a competitor under Ohio law.

In September, Judge Gary Cook with the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas sided with BCI, stating in his 49-page opinion that BCI’s “need for the information would outweigh the potential harm” to TFP. However, Cook also stated in his decision that he was “highly mindful of the important interests” involved in the case and that his ruling “is particularly well-suited for appellate review and guidance.”

In October, TFP filed an appeal with the Sixth District court, seeking to protect its information from disclosure to BCI. BCI moved to dismiss part of TFP’s appeal on the basis that it was untimely filed, asserting TFP was obligated to appeal from a November 2012 ruling in which the trial court granted a motion to compel the disclosure of certain information TFP argued was confidential.

Following the 2012 ruling, TFP sought a protective order from the trial court preventing BCI from gaining access to the identities of the TFP’s members and other confidential information. The trial court denied TFP’s motion in its September ruling, after which TFP sought relief from the Court of Appeals. BCI argued that TFP could not appeal the trial court’s September ruling, and could only have appealed the November 2012 ruling.

The Court of Appeals disagreed with BCI’s position, however, finding that the trial court’s 2012 ruling did not address the issue of whether the information sought by BCI was confidential or privileged, or protected under Ohio law as trade secrets. Instead, it noted that had TFP appealed that ruling, its appeal would have been dismissed as not final and appealable, and that TFP properly filed an appeal from the trial court’s September ruling. As such, the Court of Appeals denied BCI’s motion seeking to dismiss the appeal.

BCI has sought leave to file its own brief, after which TFP will have the opportunity to file a reply brief. Once the parties have fully briefed the issues on appeal, the court will then set a date for oral argument on those issues.

Blade raises possibility of outsourcing production

Citing the expense of replacing aging printing presses and production equipment, The Blade has proposed moving to an outside vendor for newspaper production when its current labor contract ends May 31.

During a May 7 meeting with the Joint Council of Newspaper Unions, Blade management explained that its printing presses and related production equipment are “at the end of their useful lives and approaching obsolescence” and that replacing the operating equipment would cost millions of dollars, according to an email sent to Blade employees by Bill Nolan, director of human resources and labor relations.

“A number of the production systems are no longer supported by their manufacturers and only a single plate supplier remains for its flexo press plates; that supplier is located in the United Kingdom,” the email stated.

The Blade’s Superior Street building. Toledo Free Press file photo.

In addition, The Blade’s Superior Street building is “expensive to maintain and it, alone, may require millions of dollars of repairs.” The newspaper has also “been losing money for many years, with losses exceeding $8.5 million in 2013,” the email stated.

The Blade has offered to continue to meet with its unions to discuss the proposal as well as negotiate over its effects on Joint Council of Newspaper Unions’ represented employees, according to the email.

It was unclear how many employees the potential move could affect.

“We view our negotiations with the labor unions that represent our employees as a private matter and when we are prepared to make a statement, we will issue one,” Nolan told Toledo Free Press. “Up until then we will have no comment.”

The Joint Council of Newspaper Unions is comprised of seven of The Blade’s eight employee unions. A representative was unable to be reached for comment.

The Toledo Newspaper Guild, which according to its website represents 200 employees in the advertising, editorial, marketing, circulation, finance and information systems departments, bargains separately with The Blade. Although not involved in the May 7 meeting, The Guild released a statement:

“The Guild regrets how the announced proposed decision by Block Communications to outsource production of The Blade will impact Toledo employees and their families. Management has agreed to continue discussions with the Joint Council to negotiate the terms of the proposal, and its impact on the represented employees. Unlike in the past, The Guild and the Joint Council are negotiating with BCI separately. We believe that BCI should invest in Toledo, in its product, and in its most valuable resource: its employees. The company should always remember that The Blade works because we do.”

Tim Higgins, who is retired from a 30-year career selling and servicing capital equipment to North American newspapers, said The Blade’s presses are more than 20 years old and he’s not surprised the company may be looking to outsource.

“Not only is the flexographic method currently used by The Blade one seldom used in newspapers (and therefore not worth the cost of updating), but the capital investment being made to replace the same (and even older) technology at their sister paper in Pittsburgh [the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette] probably factors into the financial equation as well,” Higgins, a Toledo Free Press columnist, wrote in an email to TFP.

“Flexography was thought to be a big deal at one point in the industry, because the water-based ink tended to dry with little or no newsprint ‘rub off’ and was potentially more environmentally friendly than the petroleum-based ‘offset’ inks from the dominant newspaper printing process. Flexo turned out to be a dead end in the industry, which became dominated by offset printing.

“Watching the recent contraction and consolidation of many of the printing sites that I’ve worked on over the years, including The Blade, has been a rule rather than an exception. Decreasing advertising revenue and circulation numbers, combined with an increasing popularity of electronic alternatives are simply realities that the traditional daily newspaper is now forced to deal with, some more successfully than others.”

Blade parent company Block Communications is involved in an ongoing lawsuit against Toledo Free Press involving contractual disputes with TFP publisher and president Tom Pounds.

Pounds: Appeal filed

On Oct. 3, Toledo Free Press attorneys filed an appeal to the 6th District Court of Appeals. We are seeking to have the appellate court reverse some of the rulings made by the trial court in a judgment entry that was issued Sept. 6 in the ongoing lawsuit aimed at us by Block Communications Inc. (BCI), parent of The Blade.

The legal process can be messy, but our legal position is clear. We have discussed on these pages the belief that we are being targeted to be put out of business with a suit that attacks our First Amendment rights and now seeks to erode the rights of LLC investors in Ohio.

As part of the discovery phase of the case, the parties are entitled to seek certain information from each other. Typically, the scope of discovery is broad, but certain information or documents can be withheld if they fall into specific categories protected by law or the courts.

BCI has sought, during the discovery process, to obtain from Toledo Free Press certain information that we assert is privileged or protected from discovery. BCI has asked that we disclose the identities of our owners, information which is not available to the public and that we have kept confidential. BCI has also sought to obtain certain proprietary and business information from us, including our business plans. Since BCI is the owner of our largest direct competitor, the disclosure of this information would be extremely damaging to our business. As a result, we did not give that information to BCI.

BCI asked the trial court under Judge Gary Cook to order us to provide that information. On Sept. 6, the court ordered us to turn over the business information and the identities of our owners.

We believe the trial court was in error in ordering the disclosure of this information. With regards to the issue of the disclosure of the members’ names, the trial court acknowledged that this is an area of law that lacks much in the way of precedential guidance. We believe this sets a dangerous precedent that will have a detrimental effect on businesses statewide. We believe that the identities of our members and our business plans are protected by Ohio’s trade secret rules and that the court should not force the disclosure to a direct competitor.

The case essentially freezes until the appeals court renders an opinion on the issues being appealed, which are only a small part of the larger case. Once the court of appeals has rendered its decision, the matter returns to the trial court and the case resumes. The appellate process could take several months, a scenario that further allows this suit to drain our resources and jeopardize our operations.

As people continue to ask how they can help, we ask again that you channel your feelings into positive action. Help us by supporting the nonprofit organizations and the charity events we sponsor. Help us by recognizing and thanking the businesses that support Toledo Free Press, through advertising or by allowing us to distribute at their location. Let the advertisers know you read Toledo Free Press and understand how important their patronage is, just as they understand how important your patronage is to them.

We are in this fight for the long haul; thank you for your support.

Thomas F. Pounds is president and publisher of Toledo Free Press and Toledo Free Press Star. Contact him at tpounds@toledofreepress.com.

How you can help

It is easy, during the heat of battle against overwhelming odds, to believe you are fighting alone, with just a few allies in the foxhole. During the past two years of the legal onslaught brought against us by Block Communications, parent of The Blade, we have often felt surrounded and depleted. But the reaction to “An urgent appeal,” last week’s column by Toledo Free Press Editor in Chief Michael S. Miller, has fortified and renewed our commitment to fight on.

Miller’s column was shared and posted scores of times, garnering comments of support from readers and media professionals across the country. National media watchers such as Jim Romenesko shared the column. Most people offered kind words and prayers, which are always appreciated. Many asked a simple question that has no simple answer: “How can I help?”

Even just reaching out and offering sympathetic words helps. Knowing there are legions of Lucas County residents and business leaders who understand and support our mission is heartening. Now that the public knows what is at stake — basic American rights of free speech, marketplace competition and private citizens’ rights to invest their money in a protected LLC — the support has become more focused.

We are adamant that the sentiment not be directed in a negative manner toward The Blade’s employees or its attorneys, Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick; there is nothing to be gained by venting frustration or disappointment there. Instead, we ask that if you want to help us, channel your feelings into positive action. Help us by supporting the nonprofit organizations and the nonprofit events we sponsor. Help us by recognizing and thanking the businesses that support Toledo Free Press, through advertising or by allowing us to distribute at their location. Let the advertisers know you read Toledo Free Press and understand how important their patronage is, just as they understand how important your patronage is to them.

And if you frequent a business that doesn’t currently advertise with us, please urge them to. It doesn’t have to be a political statement. It’s an opportunity to get their message across in the state of Ohio’s best weekly newspaper, as so named for five consecutive years by the Society of Professional Journalists.

The small group of people that produces Toledo Free Press fights because we believe in the positive power of media. We believe in basic American rights of free speech and marketplace competition. We believe in Toledo as a city and as a spirit of resiliency and enterprise. And we believe in you, the hundreds of thousands of readers who support our efforts.

Please continue to read, share and urge those who can to support us. That is how you can help.

Thomas F. Pounds is president and publisher of Toledo Free Press and Toledo Free Press Star. Contact him at tpounds@toledofreepress.com.